History
by MouseCadet
Summary: Smellerbee is grateful for the Freedom Fighters, however lately something from her past is haunting her. She doesn't like to dwell on it, but this burden may be too heavy to carry on her own. (Slight Longshot x Smellerbee)


**TRIGGER WARNING! This fic contains graphic mentions of rape, assault, and PTSD. Please read with caution.**

He'd seen it too many times. Villages burned down, pillaged, lives destroyed by the fire nation. Young girls taken from their homes, raped, burned, and left to die. Most of the girls died from their injuries, no matter how hard Longshot or Jet tried to keep them alive. They had to face it, no matter the herbs they had (which weren't many) they weren't doctors and as heartless as it may seem, for the safety of themselves they had set a rule. No saving dying strangers. It just didn't seem worth it to waste precious medical supplies and food on someone who would pass away a day later.

But as Longshot looked down at the small girl in front of him, he didn't seem to care anymore. She was young, probably no older than 8. She was covered in burns, the most prominent of which scarred in straight lines across both of her cheeks. There was blood pooling from in between her legs and he found himself disgusted and angry. She was just a child. They were all just children, but most of the girls they found this way were at least in their teens.

What bothered him perhaps most of all was that she wasn't crying. She was just sitting there, curled up staring into the air. If her eyes hadn't have been open, he would've mistaken her for dead. The look in her eyes also broke his heart. It was a look Longshot knew well. A look of emptiness that he and every other freedom fighter carried with them every day.

Fuck Jet. Fuck the rules, he didn't care about them anymore. The girl was shaking alone on the forest floor and his watch was coming to an end. He realized he had already made the decision to help her the moment he saw her alive.

Longshot gently jumped out of the tree he was in, landing a few feet in front of her. She jumped slightly, giving him a look that contained anger but also a bit of fear. He wasn't one for words, but he spoke anyway. "My name is Longshot, I'm not fire nation. I want to help you."

"I know you're not fire nation, if you were you would've killed me already", she said, with a sass that honestly took him by surprise. He smiled slightly, impressed to see that the young girl still had some fight left in her, even after everything she had been through.

"My name doesn't matter.", she said eyeing him suspiciously. "How can you help me?" Longshot told her about their rag tag group of orphans, how they lived in the trees together recruiting new lost children to help aid in their fight against the fire nation. She had taken a moment to consider the offer, but eventually gave in.

"There's one problem.", she stuttered, looking away from him slightly ashamed. "I… I can't…", she looked to her legs. Longshot has assumed the girl wouldn't be able to walk after what they had done to her, but hearing her say it still broke his heart a lot more than he liked to admit. He gestured to her, a silent offer to carry her if she would allow him to. She couldn't have weighed 60 pounds.

He carried the girl back to his hut quietly. He was glad for the first time that he hadn't been assigned a roommate. If Jet found out about her yet, he just wouldn't understand. Even if she did die from her injuries, which looked entirely possible, she deserved to pass comfortably, not alone and cold on a forest floor.

Longshot cleaned her burns, applying a cooling gel they had stolen from a nearby village a few weeks back. He cleaned the blood and dirt and other substances off of her as well, surprised at her lack of concern while he did. Most of the girls they took in insisted on doing that part themselves. He then reminded himself of how young she was, she probably didn't even understand what had happened to her. Not yet anyway.

"So, you'll need a name", Longshot spoke softly, handing her some food he had stolen from the kitchen. The girl thought long and hard about it, finally smiling slightly. "How about… Smellerbee." Sure, it was a strange name, but if that's what she wanted to be called then who was he to argue. He nodded and she smiled happily, laying back on his cot to get some much needed rest.

For the next few days Longshot did his best to hide her from the rest of the group. He would say he was feeling sick and needed the extra food to get well, that they shouldn't enter his hut in case they too got sick. Everyone seemed to buy his story, at least for now which gave him time to take care of Smellerbee, at least until she was well enough to walk again.

He found in the few days he spent with her that she was quite the character, telling him stories of the spars she would have with her father and of her knife wielding skills that her mother couldn't stand. Longshot found that not only did he not mind the young girl, he very much enjoyed her company. He also noticed that he didn't have to audibly reply to her either, most of the time she understood his looks, which no one had been able to do up to this point, not well or correctly that is. If he was to be honest she impressed him, and it was no surprise to him that after only two days she was waking again and moving around freely. Well as free as she could be cooped up in his hut. Longshot realized that if he was impressed maybe Jet would be too. It was time for Smellerbee to meet their leader.

"So, you've been hiding her from me", Jet said, giving Longshot a looked that held only curiosity and no real annoyance. Jet had been impressed with her skill at such young age, just as Longshot had predicted, but he wasn't expecting him to realize he had been hiding her. "Don't do it again, and we are fine.", Jet whispered to him, before standing up on the table. "Everyone! Welcome your newest freedom fighter, Smellerbee!"

Though there weren't many kids in their group yet, those who were there welcomed Smellerbee with a hoorah, officiating her into the group with a slightly larger than normal dinner that night.

 **To Be Continued**


End file.
